Isaiah 58 Versus 1-14
Shout with a voice of a trumpet blast; tell my people of their sins! They ask so pious! They come to the Temple every day and are so delighted to hear the reading of my laws, just as though they would obey them, just as though they don’t despise the commandments of their God! How anxious they are to worship correctly; oh, how they loved the Temple services!
We have fasted before you, they say. Why aren’t you impressed? Why don’t you see our sacrifices? Why don’t you hear prayers? We have done much penance, and you don’t even notice it! I’ll tell you why! Because you are living in evil pleasure even while you are fasting, and you keep right on oppressing your workers. Look, what good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarrelling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. Is this what I want —this doing of penance and bowing like reeds in the wind and putting on sackcloth? Is this what you call fasting?
No, the kind of fast I want is that you stop oppressing those who work for you and treat them fairly and give them what they earn. I want you to share your food with a hungry and bring right into your own homes those who are helpless and destitute. Clothe those who are cold and don’t hide from relatives who need your help. If you do these things, God will shed his own glorious light upon you. He will heal you; your godliness will lead you forward, and goodness will be a shield before you, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. Then, when you call the Lord will answer. Yes, I am here, he will quickly reply. All you need to do is stop oppressing the weak, and to stop making false accusations in spreading vicious rumors!
Feed the hungry! Help those in trouble! And your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you shall be as bright as day. And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy you with all good things, and keep you healthy too; and you will be like the well water garden, like an ever flowing spring. Your sons will rebuild long deserted ruins of your cities and you will be known as the people who rebuilt their walls in cities.
If you keep the Sabbath holy, not having your own fun and business on that day, but enjoying the Sabbath and speaking of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day. And honoring the Lord in what you do, not following your own desires and pleasures, not talking idly. Then the Lord will be your delight and I will see to it that you ride high and get your full share of the blessings I promise to Jacob, your father. The Lord has spoken.
Sam’s Response
Well, as I start my response today, I looked at the Scripture and description Scripture verse of the day which says the Lord will guide you continually. There is a lot comfort knowing that if we stop looking with our eyes, and start believing in our hearts, the Lord will guide us continually
Something that I said before, and I’ve heard other people say this, is a saying, I don’t see God at work. We don’t know God’s timetable, we don’t always see God at work, but God sees the posture of our hearts.
In the Scripture above we see that people going through the motions of doing what they felt God wanted them to do. Even though they thought that they were doing the right things, God could see beyond what they were doing was for their own gain. The posture of their heart was not for the Lord but for their own gain.
Many times we don’t see beyond what our eyes see. Many people struggle with this because they want to see or feel or have some sort of confirmation that is tangible. But that is not faith, God wants us to believe even when we don’t see it.
There are many limitations that this world imposes upon us. As a young child we are often taught we can’t do this and we can’t do that, so early on we learn not to believe or have faith but only to believe what is tangible and real. Faith calls us to something much higher, ask us not to look with our eyes but trust with our hearts.
As you press into God’s Word, and you come for the Lord with a pure heart and clean hands, and you chase after God, and look forward to spending time with him, it is my experience that as we do this more and more we began to operate not in what we see but what we believe.
I’ve also come to realize that God wants to play a big role in my life. In the above Scripture God talks about being a shield in front of us and protecting us from behind. When we walk in faith and trust God for everything in our lives, God says and will protects us. There have been times in my life that I pushed God or not acknowledged on my daily walk. I tried to do everything on my own. It’s interesting to look at that and see all the frustration that I was living in. I mean if we think about it, God created everything around us and he did it by speaking.
A friend of mine was talking about the fact that God can get more done in our day and then we could get done in weeks..God can arrange appointments for us that are supernatural, and can affect and enhance our lives much more than we could do with our own hands.
We have an awesome living God who cares for us and wants to bless us. But for that to occur, we must come to a place where we surrender to the Lord our desires, and place our trust and confidence in God. This is not a one-time event, is a daily walk with the Lord.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Loading ...
